The World's Leading Source of Expertise in Open Source Search Technology Drives Broader Commercial Adoption of Open Source Search, Allows Businesses and Developers to Showcase Coveted Expertise

SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - May 12, 2011) - Lucid Imagination, the commercial company for Apache Lucene/Solr open source search, today announced that is has launched the first certification program for developers working with the Apache Lucene/Solr technology. The Lucid Certified Developer Exam is the industry's only standardized benchmark of open source search knowledge, skills, and experience. The test provides developers with a way to validate their expertise and differentiate themselves in the competitive job market, and helps employers select new hires with more confidence and more accurately assess knowledge gaps in the current employee base. Developers and employers can register for the certification or learn more at http://www.lucidimagination.com/Certification. A limited number of test seats will be offered free of charge on May 24th to attendees of the upcoming Lucene Revolution Conference 2011. Learn more at lucenerevolution.com/2011/certification.

The Lucid Certified Apache Solr/Lucene Developer Certification Exam has been met with resounding industry support. It was created in response to burgeoning demand for Lucene/Solr skill sets: Lucene/Solr has grown an amazing ten-fold over the last three years, and currently ranks among the top 15 open source projects and is one of the top five Apache projects, with installations at over 4,000 companies.

The exam was written by a team of subject matter experts comprised of Apache Lucene and Solr committers, developers, and trainers, drawing on their wide-ranging experience in writing and maintaining multiple generations of Lucene/Solr open source as well as real-world deployments. It was developed in conjunction with Prometric, the leading global provider of testing development and delivery services, and is available immediately at Prometric testing centers in more than 160 countries.

"With the maturity and broad adoption of Lucene/Solr technology and the growth of its ecosystem, businesses and developers have expressed a need for a standardized approach to assessing developer skills and experience," said Eric Gries, CEO of Lucid Imagination. "Our motivation in setting this benchmark is to provide a consistent, global measure of skills that span diverse search application needs. Lucene/Solr developers are in high demand and employers want to be able to validate expertise in using the technology to successfully develop search applications. Implementation partners and consultants want to verify they have this expertise as well, so last year we decided to make the significant investment required to develop this rigorous certification."

"Lucid's certification program represents yet another milestone in Solr's maturation, and it's been gratifying to see the continued rapid uptake of Lucene/Solr by such a wide range of businesses."
- Yonik Seeley, creator of Apache Solr, chief open source architect and co-founder at Lucid Imagination

"For customers in our business, the search index is now a source of truth on a par with databases. Search is becoming a primary method for accessing vast amounts of information. We approach building and implementing Lucene/Solr applications with the same rigor, from architecture to deployment, as we do the more classic DBMS implementations. Search development skill is becoming a must for any seasoned developer who wants to work at the architect level. Any improvement in search development skills has significant, direct impact on customer experience, infrastructure reliability, and operational costs, and this new certification can provide an essential benchmark of that skillset."
- Rajesh Kommineni, manager knowledge/search at RightNow, a provider of on demand customer experience solutions

"Finding a Java developer who has 'played' with Solr is quite easy but the challenge is to find one who actually knows Solr, and has mastered it. This certification program will help software companies acquire better expertise and credibility when integrating Lucene and Solr into their products."
- Martin Brousseau, technical product manager of OpenText, a global enterprise content management software company

"I expect that the Lucid Imagination certification will quickly become the gold standard benchmark for whether someone who claims Solr and Lucene expertise truly possesses it. Oftentimes, a buyer of services has to take the leap of faith from sales pitch to execution that the knowledge is truly there. This certification can show, without a doubt, that the holder truly has the knowledge required to deliver a successful Lucene/Solr implementation. In the open source world, there are very few marks of authenticity: committer status, published author, and now the Lucid Solr certification. Just as the CPA certification shows a high level of knowledge and ability in the accounting industry, the Lucid Imagination Solr certification demonstrates unquestionable knowledge and experience in successful Lucene/Solr search engine implementation."
- Eric Pugh, principal at Opensource Connections and co-author of "Solr 1.4 Enterprise Search Server"

"Apache Lucene and Solr have established the standard for open source search, and Lucid Imagination is establishing the standards for commercial open source search in the enterprise. By adding the Solr certification program to their suite of support and training options, Lucid Imagination will continue to help propel the widespread of adoption of open source search that we are seeing throughout the industry."
- Mike Vertal, president and CEO, Rivet Logic

"Our clients are increasingly requesting the installation of Lucene/Solr. With this in mind, we are very pleased that there is now a certification that highlights the level of expertise you can expect from Ixxus consultants."
- Steve Odart, managing director, Ixxus

"Certification provides great motivation for engineers to verify their expertise with new technology. We can also track the capabilities of our internal and external resources. Uchida Spectrum is developing the SMART/InSight G2 search application with Lucene/Solr, and the Lucid Imagination certification will help us to build a qualified engineering staff."
- Shinji Kimura, vice president, product management office, Uchida Spectrum, Inc.

"Harnessing data growth poses significant challenges. When relevant content is available with a click of a button, corporate strategy can evolve from bottom up and become a real competitive advantage. I see search as one of a handful of technologies that can truly make or break a company's sustainable competitive advantage and our clients trust us to implement a solution we stand behind 100%. We've built that trust by providing unmatched expertise in everything we do. This certification is a badge of honor to that end, and we're pleased to be able to show our clients the rigorous training our consultants have each gone through to receive it."
- Marco Abis, CEO, Sourcesense Europe

"We are committed to assisting our customers in successfully implementing search-based applications using Solr and Lucene. As part of this commitment, we are excited to have added to our credentials a certification that further validates our expertise with Solr and Lucene."
- Keith Mericle, president, Innovent Solutions

"The Lucid Lucene/Solr certification ensures that technical professionals have the skills to solve common search problems and successfully develop Solr applications. In order to complete this skill set, developers can leverage readily available training courses provided by Lucid and its partners. With the combination of a training curriculum and Solr certification, Lucid has created a complete ecosystem to address the business needs of many Solr users."
- Peter Spiske, CEO, SHI Elektronische Medien GmbH

"Open source is an effective way to improve time to market, reduce development costs, and even penetrate new markets -- if it's done properly. We pride ourselves on being experts in search -- but it will give both present and future clients extra reassurance to know that our technical staff have the Lucid certification."
- Charlie Hull, managing director, Flax

About Lucid ImaginationLucid Imagination is the commercial company exclusively dedicated to Apache Lucene/Solr open source enterprise search technology. It provides search solution development platforms built on the power of Lucene/Solr open source search via enterprise-grade subscriptions. The company's latest offering, LucidWorks Enterprise, makes the power of Lucene/Solr open source search more accessible to the broad range of application developers and slashes the learning curve for search solution development. Unlike "black box" products, LucidWorks Enterprise allows organizations of all sizes and types to continuously tune their search to fit the ongoing needs of their users and achieve a consistently lower cost of growth. Lucid Imagination also offers free software for developers, documentation, commercial-grade support, high-level consulting, and comprehensive training. Customers include AT&T, Sears, Ford, Verizon, Cisco, Zappos, Raytheon, The Guardian, The Smithsonian Institution, Salesforce.com, The Motley Fool, Qualcomm, Taser, eHarmony, and many other household names around the world. Lucid Imagination is a privately held venture-funded company. The investors include Shasta Ventures, Granite Ventures, Walden International, and In-Q-Tel. Learn more about the company at www.lucidimagination.com.